3 Observations from the Oral Care GBT Trip to Jakarta

2 weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining the Oral Care GBT meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. While I enjoyed so many aspects of this visit (from the tropical heat -- a welcome relief from London's winter chill!, to meeting Isabella Tanoto -- our dynamic media director in Indonesia, to joining the GBT deliberations -- lots of great stuff in the works for this category, to an absolutely incredible celebratory feast with the local Indonesian company board -- complete with live Karaoke and a music lesson on Indonesian wood wind instruments!), I wanted to share 3 observations from my trip that will really impact the way I work with brands on IBC projects moving forward:
Observation #1: 60% of UL's Oral Care Sales in Indonesia Come From "General Trade" Channel
See below for a picture from one of the general trade outposts we visited on our travels in Jakarta. As you can see, there's not a lot of space to do creative "in store placements" in an outlet like this! As I work on IBC projects moving forward, particularly those that impact D&E markets, I will keep this image in mind as we brainstorm ideas for in store.


Observation #2: Pepsodent's School Program: Living the Compass
Peter Soer, the SVP of the Oral Care category often says, "there is no general health without oral health." With that adage in mind, I was so proud to see the work Pepsodent is doing in schools across Indonesia (see picture below.) The brand has partnered with NGOs to deliver oral care education, dental check ups, and toothbrushes/toothpaste to over 1 million Indonesian school children per year. All that brushing will certainly add up; Just like Polman says in the Compass, these school programs will yield the small changes that make a big difference!

Observation #3: Mobile Will Rule (and Flatten!) the World

Sitting in 100VE we often talk about the power of mobile marketing ... Sitting in the home of a 19 year old Indonesian University student, I saw the proof right before my eyes. After listening to her describe her oral care habits (happily she uses Close Up:) for 30 minutes, I asked the consumer connect moderator to ask her whether she had a mobile phone ... Her face lit up with a smile & she began to talk animatedly about how she had not just one, but 2 mobile phones! She used one for txting & calling (a basic Nokia model that she got from her Aunt) and the other (a blackberry!) she used for surfing the web. When I asked her where she surfed, she responded, "Facebook, Google ..." After many months of evangelizing for digital media in 100VE, this was like music to my ears. "Hey everybody", I felt like shouting, "it's really true, the internet is everywhere! Let's make sure our brands are there too!"

All in all, a fantastic & illuminating trip. Thank you to the Oral Care team for including me in their visit!